Chevron’s Worst Year Ever, Episode 6: Philipines

This has been one of the worst years ever for Chevron. From it’s ongoing massive legal losses in Ecuador, to offshore disasters in Brazil and Nigeria, to the tragic deaths of its employees in several locations, including right here in California.

This is the sixth in a series of statements that we have been posting before and during the week of the inspired 99% Spring protest against Chevron’s irresponsible and destructive business practices (read the first statement, by Kazakhstan’s Sergey Solanyik, here; the second, by Ecuador’s Luz Trinidad Andrea Cusangua, here; the third, by Communities for a Better Environment about Richmond, CA, here; the fourth, by The Wilderness Society in Australia, here, and the fifth, which was actually two statements from Nigeria, here).

These statements are by people from around the world (and from right here in the Bay Area) letting us know what it really means to live in the communities where Chevron operates. Many traveled to San Ramon, CA to bring their calls for justice directly to the company’s executives, board members, and shareholders at Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting on May 30. You can view all of the statements at TrueCostOfChevron.com.

On behalf of Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice (AESJ) and the Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity (FACES) who work with the thousands residents in the Pandacan district of Manila, Philippines, we demand that you relocate your oil depot away from this highly populated neighborhood.

For years now, we have met with your staff at Chevron’s world headquarters, and have addressed you at multiple shareholder meetings to urge you to move the Pandacan oil depots. We’ve heard you say you have plans for relocation but they have not happened. You have been stalling relocation for years, and now new problems with your leaking pipelines are developing.

BACKGROUND

About 84,000 people live dangerously close to the Pandacan oil depot and continuously threaten their homes, schools, and community. The giant facility which you jointly operate with two other oil companies contain 313 million liters of gasoline, diesel, bunker fuel, jet fuel and other highly volatile chemical substances is one of the largest in the world. It is sprawled along Manila’s Pasig River system that, by a short distance, reaches out to the country’s principal harbor in Manila Bay and Laguna Lake, the country’s largest inland body of water. A major explosion in the Pandacan oil depot has the potential to wreak havoc on the immediate surrounding communities as well as these busy water ways for trade and industry.

Since 2001, as an aftermath of 9/11, heightened awareness and anxiety, have pushed people in Pandacan and surrounding communities to protest and mobilize against the continued existence of the gigantic 33-hectare oil depot and its pipeline in their midst. Environmental groups like Ecowaste coalition and Friends of the Earth-International, human rights organizations and even the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines have come out to support the relocation of the Pandacan oil depot. They cited numerous disastrous incidents caused by accidents and terrorism involving oil-related facilities in many places even in the most modern and high-technology countries. Included in these incidents is a major explosion in the Muntingpula portion of the Batangas-Pandacan pipeline in 1999 after the pipeline was struck by unsuspecting construction workers causing several deaths and many houses and establishments burnt down.

Almost in apparent support of the people’s protests, the Supreme Court ruled in 2009 in favor of relocating the Pandacan oil depot, recognizing the serious danger it posed to the lives of people in the surrounding areas, citing in unequivocal terms, the primacy of the right to life (of people) over the right to property (and profits) of the oil companies.

NEW PROBLEMS

In 2010, a serious oil leak from the Batangas-Pandacan pipeline was discovered in Bangkal, Makati (the heart of the premier business district of Manila). More than 60 resident families of West Tower condominium had to vacate their homes indefinitely due to the dangerous fumes that continued to build up in and around the housing complex. It took more than 4 months for the FPIC to admit the existence of the leaking pipeline because their tests falsely indicated no leak, on account of obvious attempts at cover-up by FPIC. The FPIC pipeline company is partly owned by Shell and used by Chevron/Caltex to transport various oil products to their storage tanks in Pandacan.

Moreover, the whole Bangkal area had to be put on alert because of the toxic contamination of their sewers and water table. Almost 3 million liters of refined products were spilled and are still flowing into the community’s groundwater. The level of the leak and the ensuing contamination has been such that after many months of operations, the foreign clean-up company engaged could not even say approximately when the area could be declared free of contaminants. Taking on the seriousness of the 45-year old oil pipeline’s leakage, the Supreme Court was also constrained to order the FPIC to suspend its operations. Philippine environmental laws declare that the liability for the pollution is borne not only by the agent or direct polluter but equally liable is the owner of the pollutant. In this case, Chevron is equally liable for the pollution caused by the FPIC pipeline. No one is sure whether there are other leakages along the aging 117-kilometer Batangas-Pandacan oil conveyance facility.

DEMANDS

RELOCATE THE PANDACAN OIL DEPOT. Chevron must accept the fact that you have expanded the Pandacan facility far too close to the surrounding communities. There is a worldwide trend of removing such facilities from populated areas towards places far from communities or with substantial buffer zones. No amount of modern technology can ensure 100% safety from disasters. The specters of the 2011 great oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil depot disaster of Buncefield, England in 2005 and many other oil related disasters should haunt the consciences of your company. Move the depots immediately!

COMPENSATE THE RESIDENTS OF WEST TOWER AND BANGKAL COMMUNITIES FOR DAMAGES DUE TO THE PIPELINE LEAK. Without delay, direct more attention and resources to speed up the remediation and decontamination of West Tower and Bangkal.

PERMANENTLY SHUT DOWN THE BATANGAS-PANDACAN OIL PIPELINE. Ensure the safety of the communities living precariously along the FPIC pipeline route.

Since 2010, your new leadership has had the power to forge a new path toward the corporate social responsibility that Chevron claims to invest in. We appeal to you to take a bold lead in the Philippines to formulate a clear phase-out plan and timetable for the relocation of the oil depot, and compensation for the pipeline leak. AESJ and FACES look forward to your course of action.

Onward,

Sixto Carlos Jr, Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice (AESJ)